WHAT’S IN A NAME?: HIS NAME IS CALLED IMMANUEL
--ISAIAH 7:10-17, MATTHEW 1:18-23, Hebrews 2:14-18
Everyone is familiar with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are star crossed lovers. Their families are bitter enemies. In Act II, Scene Two is the famous balcony scene. Juliet laments:
Jul. ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself though, not a Montague.
What’s a Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O! be some other name:
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
[Act II, Scene 2, ll42-53]
In the realm of faith this is not true. Personal names carry much weight and express deep meaning and significance, especially the Names of Jesus.
Even today the name Jewish parents give their baby is vitally important. The infant’s name testifies to the parents’ hope for the child’s future and proclaims and reveals the basic, fundamental character, nature, and destiny of the child. Your name describes who you are.
Robert means “shining with fame” and David “beloved or loving.” Elizabeth means” God has sworn” and Ann “graceful one.” Sheila literally means “blind,” but spiritually “wise.”
Do you know the meaning behind your name? Mike means “Who is like God?”
Jerry means “Strong, powerful.” Janet means “God is gracious”; Linda, “beautiful.” Tom means “twin” and Sue “graceful lily.”
The Names of Jesus are the most significant and meaningful of all. According to one source our Lord and Saviour is given more than 363 names or titles in Scripture. If I preach 45 Sundays per year, taking only one of His names each week, I would have enough material to last eight years and three weeks. Well, we’re not going to go that long in this series entitled “WHAT’S IN A NAME,” but looking in Isaiah, we are going to examine about a half dozen this names of Jesus this Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.
His Name is called Immanuel. Isaiah spells it with an “I,” Matthew with an “E.” The reason is that Hebrew spells it with an I but Greek with an E.
To fully understand the whole, we need to break it down into its parts. Notice the last two letters of this Divine Name, “E,” “L.” “El” is a name for God meaning “strength” or “might.” It is found both in Hebrew and related languages and may refer to the One true God or to pagan gods. Combined with the name “Shaddai,” the compound name means “God Almighty.” It affirms that God is our source of blessing and was the Name by which God revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as in according to Exodus 6:3, “I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as “God Almighty.” El reminds us of the promise of Psalm 46:1:
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Immanuel is “The Lord God Almighty.” He is our source of refuge and strength, our very present help in times of trouble.
Since the birth of Jesus Christ, God has been with us in human flesh. God the Son is fully human, just like you and me. John does not begin his testimony about Jesus with his birth in Bethlehem but goes back to the time of creation: “In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that He didn’t make. Life itself was in Him, and this life gives light to everyone. . . . So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father [John 1:1-4, 14].” John is says that Jesus, Immanuel, the Word, is God in human flesh.
Immanuel is our source of strength no mater how hard the pressures and difficulties of life become. Paul endured pressure and prayed that the Lord would remove his own “thorn in the flesh.” Instead Immanuel answered him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power, my strength, is made perfect in weakness.” We do not know what Paul’s “thorn” was—stuttering, epilepsy, poor eyesight, emotional pain, some continual temptation, or even demonic oppression. Whatever it was, God Almighty’s strength and grace enabled Paul to overcome even though the problem did not go away, and Immanuel will do the same for you and me.
God promised Israel in Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” This promise is ours today in Immanuel. Have you ever felt dismayed? It is the feeling of fear, discouragement, and apprehension. A person who is dismayed has lost all courage and confidence because of some difficulty or problem the individual can not handle. God gives us another wonderful promise we must never forget. We find it once again in the book of Isaiah, Chapter 28, verse sixteen: “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.’” No one who places their trust in Immanuel “will ever be dismayed.”
Immanuel is with you no matter how difficult the pressures you face. He is there to help , strengthen, and uphold you. Civilla D. Martin endured hardships. It was during a time of illness that she wrote “God Will take Care of You”:
Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.
Refrain: God will take care of you,
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you.
All you may need He will provide,
God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied,
God will take care of you.
No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon His breast,
God will take care of you.
Immanuel, is “God with us” in the human flesh to take care of us “no matter what may be the test.”
Because “God is with us,” we live Romans 8:37: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Immanuel reassures us “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus—neither death nor life, angels nor demons; neither things present nor future; not any power; neither height nor depth; nor anything else in all creation.” “God Almighty is with us” in every tight situation.
Immanuel shows us what God is like. No evangelist presents this as well as the Apostle John. In John 1:18 we read, “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made Him known.” At the Last Supper, according to John 14, Philip raised this same question with Jesus: “Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know Me? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own; but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. . . .’” [John 14:8-11a].
Colossians 2:9 proves that Immanuel is the One qualified to show us the Father: “For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. . .” God came in human flesh in the birth of Jesus to be with us and to show us what He is like. You want to see God and know Him. All you have to do is look to Jesus, our Immanuel.
No one understands all our sorrow, pain, and grief better than Immanuel, for He has endured every human hurt. Our Epistle Lesson is proof: “Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that He did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore He had to become like His brothers and sisters in every respect, so that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself was tested by what He suffered, He is able to help those who are being tested.” [Hebrews 2:14-18]. Immanuel shared our flesh and blood; He became in every respect just like you and me except that He was sinless. He was tested in every way we will ever be tested and has the power to strengthen us in whatever tests we will ever face. And best of all, He has destroyed the Satan, the one who has the power of death. He frees us from slavery to the fear of death.
God Almighty is with us in human flesh, and we are liberated from the power of sin and death. We are “more than conquerors through Him who loves us.” The hymn writer John W. Peterson expresses it so well:
No one understands like Jesus.
He’s a friend beyond compare;
Meet Him at the throne of mercy;
He is waiting for you there.
No one understands like Jesus;
Every woe He sees and feels;
Tenderly He whispers comfort,
And the broken heart He heals.
No one understands like Jesus
When the foes of life assail;
You should never be discouraged;
Jesus cares and will not fail!
No one understands like Jesus
When you falter on the way;
Though you fail Him, sadly fail Him,
He will pardon you today.
CHORUS:
No one understands like Jesus
When the days are dark and grim;
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus--
Cast your every care on Him!
[SOURCE: http://our.homewithgod.com/ewerluvd/hymndevotionals/7_10.htm]
God is with us in Immanuel, and no one understands you better or loves you more than He does. Because He was tested in every way you ever will be, you can “cast your every care on Him.” No matter how dark and grim your days become, He will be with you always, for He promise all His disciples: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:20b]
“What’s in a Name?” Everything when the Name is Immanuel. God Almighty is here with us in the Person of Jesus Christ. Whatever your hurt or pain in body, mind, or spirit, “He will take care of you.” No one understands you better. Do not despair, for He is your refuge, your strength, your very present help in time of trouble.
